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October 31, 2011
October 30, 2011
China Has Homemade Supercomputer Gain
China Has Homemade Supercomputer Gain
By JOHN MARKOFF
Published: October 28, 2011
China has made its first supercomputer based on Chinese microprocessor chips, an advance that surprised high-performance computing specialists in the United States.
The announcement was made this week at a technical meeting held in Jinan, China, organized by industry and government organizations. The new machine, the Sunway BlueLight MPP, was installed in September at the National Supercomputer Center in Jinan, the capital of Shandong Province in eastern China.
The Sunway system, which can perform about 1,000 trillion calculations per second — a petaflop — will probably rank among the 20 fastest computers in the world. More significantly, it is composed of 8,700 ShenWei SW1600 microprocessors, designed at a Chinese computer institute and manufactured in Shanghai.
Currently, the Chinese are about three generations behind the state-of-art chip making technologies used by world leaders such as the United States, South Korea, Japan and Taiwan.
“This is a bit of a surprise,” said Jack Dongarra, a computer scientist at the University of Tennessee and a leader of the Top500 project, a list of the world’s fastest computers.
Last fall, another Chinese-based supercomputer, the Tianhe-1A, created an international sensation when it was briefly ranked as the world’s fastest, before it was displaced in the spring by a rival Japanese machine, the K Computer, designed by Fujitsu. But the Tianhe was built from processor chips made by American companies, Intel and Nvidia, though its internal switching system was designed by Chinese engineers. Similarly, the K computer was based on Sparc chips, originally designed at Sun Microsystems in Silicon Valley.
Dr. Dongarra said the Sunway’s theoretical peak performance was about 74 percent as fast as the fastest United States computer — the Jaguar supercomputer at the Department of Energy facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, made by Cray Inc. That machine is currently the third fastest on the list.
The Energy Department is planning three supercomputers that would run at 10 to 20 petaflops. And the United States is embarking on an effort to reach an exaflop, or one million trillion mathematical operations in a second, sometime before the end of the decade, though most computer scientists say the necessary technologies do not yet exist.
To build such a computer from existing components would require immense amounts of electricity — roughly the amount produced by a medium-size nuclear power plant. In contrast, Dr. Dongarra said it was intriguing that the power requirements of the new Chinese supercomputer were relatively modest — about one megawatt, according to reports from the technical conference. The Tianhe supercomputer consumes about four megawatts and the Jaguar about seven.
The ShenWei microprocessor appears to be based on some of the same design principles that are favored by Intel’s most advanced microprocessors, according to several supercomputer experts in the United States.
But there is disagreement over whether the machine’s cooling technology is appropriate for designs that will be required by the exaflop-class supercomputers of the future.
Photos of the new Sunway supercomputer reveal an elaborate water-cooling system that may be a significant advance in the design of the very fastest machines. “Getting this cooling technology correct is very, very difficult,” said Steven Wallach, chief scientist at Convey Computer, a Richardson, Tex., supercomputer firm. “This tells me that this is a serious design. This cooling technology could scale to exaflop. They are in the hunt to win.”
Iran already has nuclear weapons
KAHLILI: Iran already has nuclear weapons
Western intelligence has known it for years
By Reza Kahlili-
The Washington Times
Thursday, by Alexander Hunter for The Washington Times
Text Size: +-
The pressure the United States and the West is bringing to bear on Iranto keep it from acquiring nuclear weapons is all for naught. Not only does the Islamic Republic already have nuclear weapons from the old Soviet Union, but it has enough enriched uranium for more. What’s worse, it has a delivery system.
The West for nearly a decade has worried about Iran’s uranium enhancement, believing Iran is working on a nuclear bomb, though the government maintains its uranium is only for peaceful purposes.
When Iran began its nuclear program in the mid-1980s, I was working as a spy for the CIA within the Revolutionary Guards. The Guards‘ intelligence at that time had learned of Saddam Hussein’s attempt to buy a nuclear bomb for Iraq. Guard commanders concluded that they needed a nuclear bomb because if Saddam were to get his own, he would use it against Iran. At that time, the two countries were at war.
Mohsen Rezaei, then-chief commander of the Guards, received permission from the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini to start a covert program to obtain nuclear weapons, so the Guards contacted Pakistani generals and Abdul Qadeer Khan, the Pakistani nuclear scientist.
Commander Ali Shamkhani traveled to Pakistan, offering billions of dollars for a bomb, but ended up with a blueprint and centrifuges instead. The first centrifuge was transferred to Iran on Khomeini’s personal plane.
In a second but parallel attempt to amass nuclear weapons, Iran turned to the former Soviet republics. When the Soviet Union dissolved in 1990,Iran coveted thousands of tactical nuclear warheads that had been dispersed in the former republics.
In the early 1990s, the CIA asked me to find an Iranian scientist who would testify that Iran had the bomb. The CIA had learned that Iranian intelligence agents were visiting nuclear installations throughout the former Soviet Union, with particular interest in Kazakhstan.
Kazakhstan, which had a significant portion of the Soviet arsenal and is predominately Muslim, was courted by Muslim Iran with offers of hundreds of millions of dollars for the bomb. Reports soon surfaced that three nuclear warheads were missing. This was corroborated by RussianGen. Victor Samoilov, who handled the disarmament issues for the general staff. He admitted that the three were missing from Kazakhstan.
Meanwhile, Paul Muenstermann, then vice president of the German Federal Intelligence Service, said Iran had received two of the three nuclear warheads and medium-range nuclear delivery systems fromKazakhstan. It also was reported that Iran had purchased four 152 mm nuclear shells from the former Soviet Union, which were reportedly stolen and sold by former Red Army officers.
To make matters worse, several years later, Russian officials stated that when comparing documents in transferring nuclear weapons from Ukraine to Russia, there was a discrepancy of 250 nuclear weapons.
Last week, Mathew Nasuti, a former U.S. Air Force captain who was at one point hired by the State Department as an adviser to one of its provincial reconstruction teams in Iraq, said that in March 2008, during a briefing on Iran at the State Department, the department’s Middle East expert told the group that it was “common knowledge” that Iran had acquired tactical nuclear weapons from one or more of the former Soviet republics.
Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer, an experienced intelligence officer and recipient of a Bronze Star, told me that his sources say Iran has two workable nuclear warheads.
An editorial in Kayhan, the Iranian newspaper directly under the supervision of the Office of the Supreme Leader, last year warned that ifIran were attacked, there would be nuclear blasts in American cities.
Despite knowing that Iranian leaders were seeking nuclear weapons, Western leaders chose to negotiate and appease with the hope of reaching a solution with Iran. Nearly three years into President Obama’s administration, we must acknowledge that the policies of first a carrot of good will and then a stick of sanctions have neither stopped the Iranians with their nuclear program nor have they deterred their aggressive posture. The Iranian leaders today, despite four sets of United Nations sanctions, continue with their missile and nuclear enrichment program, and they have enough enriched uranium for six nuclear bombs, according to the latest International Atomic Energy Agency report.
The Revolutionary Guards now have more than 1,000 ballistic missiles, many pointed at U.S. military bases in the Middle East and Europe. The Guards also have made great strides in their intercontinental missile delivery system under the guise of their space program. As I revealed earlier, nuclear weapons-capable warheads have been delivered to the Guards, andIran’s supreme leader has ordered the Guards to arm their missiles with nuclear payloads. Iran’s navy also has armed its vessels with long-range surface-to-surface missiles and soon will expand its mission into the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico.
“History suggests that we may already be too late to stop Iran’s nuclear bomb. Why do we suppose Iran cannot accomplish in 20 years of trying - with access to vast amounts of unclassified data on nuclear-weapons design and equipped with 21st-century technology - what the U.S. accomplished in three years during the 1940s with the Manhattan Project?” asks nuclear weapons expert Peter Vincent Pry, who served in the CIA and on the EMP Commission, and is now president of EMPact America.
Mr. Pry concludes that Iran only needs a single nuclear weapon to destroy the United States. A nuclear EMP (electromagnetic pulse) attack could collapse the national electric grid and other critical infrastructures that sustain the lives of 310 million Americans.
Are we ready to finally realize what the goals and the ideology of the jihadists in Tehran are and take appropriate action against them? The Iranian people themselves, who oppose the dictatorial mullahs, for years have asked us to do so. Thousands of them have lost their lives to show us the true nature of this regime. We must act before it’s too late.
October 29, 2011
Kissinger's book a warning to China, US
Kissinger's book a warning to China, US
Updated: 2011-05-31 08:16
By Kelly Chung Dawson, Yan Yiqi and Lin Jing (China Daily)
 Henry Kissinger explores the shifting relationship between China and the US in his new book. [Joshua Roberts/Bloomberg] |
NEW YORK / BEIJING - If there is something to offer a clue of how the world's two largest economies should handle their relations, former United States secretary of state Henry Kissinger's new book, On China, is that thing, Chinese and Western critics said.
Shi Qiping, a commentator with Phoenix TV in Hong Kong said: "Kissinger is a legendary figure. In the past, he has made many constructive suggestions, some of which have actually changed the history to some degree.
"Back in the US, he has gone through the presidency of 10 presidents, from Kennedy to today's Obama. In China, he has also witnessed the leadership shift of four generations. That experience helps him better understand the current global situation and where the world is heading for."
At the same time, the book also pointed out the potential risks of future Sino-US relations, which has also raised some concern.
"In this book, Kissinger says that right now China and the US are walking toward two extremes, which are quite different from the basic cultural recognition of these two countries," Shi said. "The huge gap between these two extremes would make a new round of Cold War or even war unavoidable. This should have enough attention from both countries and even the whole world."
Kwok Yat-ming, a commentator based in Hong Kong, said: "In his new book, Kissinger makes a conclusion that if a new round of Cold War breaks out between China and the US, it will impose negative influences on the development of a whole generation on both sides of the Pacific Ocean."
Kwok said as a senior statesman of the US, Kissinger is fully aware of this. And it is unlikely that the Obama administration would neglect it.
In the four decades since Kissinger's 1971 visit to China to re-establish contact after years of estrangement, much has changed in the global power structure.
China emerged from a painful isolation to become an economic powerhouse; and the US has been forced to re-examine its role in a world that has Westernized rapidly even as it becomes less Western-centric by the day.
In his new book, Kissinger explored the shifting relationship between the two nations, a tentatively pragmatic friendship that the former secretary of state under president Richard Nixon shaped over 40 years in his various roles as an adviser to the White House.
Despite his major contributions, Kissinger argued that the Chinese character - both in regards to foreign policy and culture - is tied to a history that preceded its relations with the US by several thousand years. Understanding the key differences between how each nation has been molded is crucial in navigating a tricky alliance that, regardless of his efforts, was always inevitable, he argued.
China and the US approach strategy in the same way that their most popular games do, he writes. Weiqi, or Go chess, as the 2,000-year-old Chinese game is known in America, "teaches the art of strategic encirclement", while the Western game of chess promotes the "concepts of 'center of gravity' and the 'decisive point'".
As such, "Chinese negotiators use diplomacy to weave together political, military, and psychological elements into an overall strategic design", while American diplomats "feel an obligation to break deadlocks with new proposals - unintentionally inviting new deadlocks to elicit new proposals".
Kissinger's key role in forging a relationship between the two countries has never been disputed, and his nuanced understanding of both cultures is evident everywhere in this ambitious, sweeping book.
Spanning both his four decades as an adviser to the White House and the long-scope of Chinese history, On China has been received largely positively by the Western media, which seems to uniformly acknowledge the weight of his expertise and experience.
Brett Stephens of The Wall Street Journal wrote: "Nobody living can claim greater credit than Mr. Kissinger for America's 1971 opening to Beijing ... and for China's subsequent opening to the world. So it's fitting that Mr. Kissinger has now written On China, a fluent, fascinating and sometimes infuriating book."
Newsweek's Niall Ferguson wrote: "On China, Kissinger's new book, is a reminder of why our leaders still want to pick his brains. Eighty-eight-years-old this month, he remains without equal as a strategic thinker."
"The most profound insights of On China are psychological," he continued. "They concern the fundamental cultural differences between a Chinese elite who can look back more than two millennia for inspiration and an American elite whose historical frame of reference is little more than two centuries old."
Several readers have pointed to the similarities between China's political philosophy and Kissinger's own espousal of realpolitik, the belief that politics should be dictated by practical and material factors rather than ideological or ethical objectives.
"When it comes to talking about Chinese leaders he has met, Mr. Kissinger, the hardheaded apostle of realpolitik, can sound almost starry-eyed," wrote Michiko Kakutani of The New York Times. "His sympathy for these leaders is not that surprising, giving his descriptions of them as practitioners of the same sort of unsentimental power politics he is famous for himself."
In fact, it is this sympathy that has garnered the book's main criticisms from a media that takes issue with Kissinger's reluctance to criticize China on the subject of human rights.
"In this book, Chinese leaders never sound unreasonable, but always sensible and pragmatic, unlike the Americans, who make unreasonable demands and have confused ideas about democracy and human rights," wrote Jasper Becker of the Guardian. "(Kissinger) gratefully accepts whatever the Chinese leaders tell him at face value."
China Daily
Study: Strange Fruit Burns Average 8.9 Pounds, 2 Inches in 28 Days.
Move Over Weight Watchers, an exotic super fruit called 'African Mango' is quickly becoming America's hottest new way to lose weight.
And much to the chagrin of the nation's $40 billion-dollar diet industry, which sells outrageously expensive surgical procedures and drugs that have done little, if anything, to trim America's ever-growing collective waistline.
Indeed, interest in the use of African Mango extract (irvingia gabonensis) as a safe, effective and inexpensive weight loss alternative surged after Dr. Mehmet Oz called it, mentioning no specific brand, a "breakthrough supplement" and a "miracle in your medicine cabinet" on his Emmy Award-winning The Dr. Oz Show, which aired on September 13, 2010.3
Similarly, one of the show's leading medical contributors, Dr. Tanya Edwards, M.D., called African Mango extract, mentioning no specific brand, a "miracle pill" after it helped her lose 7 pounds in less than a monthwithout making any changes to her diet or exercise routine.4 Click here to read her report.
Subjects Lost an Astonishing 3,990% More Weight
According to a recent study published in the scientific journal Lipids in Health and Disease, men and women supplementing with African Mango extract for just 28 days lost an astonishing 3,990% more weight than those taking a placebo (8.9 lbs vs. 0.22 lbs).1
Beyond the weight loss, the volunteerstaking African Mango extract 30 minutes before meals lost a stunning average of 2.4 inches from their waistlines as well as 1.8 inches from their hips — and their bad LDL cholesterol, triglyceride, and glucose levels all plummeted.1
What Is African Mango, and How Does It Work?
Despite the recent frenzy surrounding African Mango and its ability to cause safe weight loss, the fruit has actually been used as a diet aid for centuries in Cameroon, Africa.5
The brightly-colored tropical fruit is native to Cameroon's west-coastal rainforests. African Mango, or Bush Mango, differs from other mango fruits in that it produces a peculiar seed, which natives of Cameroon refer to as Dikka nuts.5
For hundreds of years, an extract from the seeds called irvingia gabonensis has been used among Cameroon villagers for its wide-ranging medicinal benefits, which range from reducing and preventing obesity to lowering cholestrol to regulating blood sugar to treating infections.1,5
Americans Swear by African Mango's Slimming Benefits
Tiffany Waterson, a 30-year-old mother of three from St. Petersburg, Florida, says she struggled with her weight for years until discovering African Mango.
"I gained 40 pounds with my last child, and I was already 25 pounds overweight," says Waterson. "I tried several diets and tried to stay away from the foods I loved and nothing seemed to work. I might have lost a few pounds, but it would always come back."
Waterson says she just about gave up hope of ever losing the weight until she read an article about the slimming and health benefits of African Mango.
"I read all about it and said what the heck, I'll give it a try and ordered some," says Waterson. "I have been taking African Mango for six months now, and I am down 33.5 pounds."
"All I have done is take the pills like the bottle says and drink plenty of water, and I don't eat past 8 p.m. I still eat what I have always eaten, just smaller portions. And now to tone my body up I'm doing light exercise, and I am loving my new body."
David Jeffery, a 36-year-old journalist from Columbia, Missouri, says he's experienced similar weight-loss success with African Mango.
"After just two weeks of using African Mango, I lost 22 pounds of fat, including a lot of fat off my gut," says Jeffery. "I'm amazed at how fast the weight is falling off me. Already my jean size has dropped from 36 to 34."
Beware of "Watered Down" African Mango Products
With the recent publicity and fanfare surrounding African Mango, it's no surprise that sites are popping up all over the Internet claiming to offer African Mango at bargain-basement prices.
However, desperate slimmers should be aware of African Mango products that use "proprietary blends" and don't list the specific amount of the active ingredient (irvingia) contained in each capsule. Experts warn that it's a well-known ploy that some manufacturers sell watered down versions of products that contain insignificant amounts of the active ingredient.6
Also don't be duped by products which also contain all kinds of other herbal ingredients that have not been tested scientifically, because these other ingredients can be potentinally harmful.6
Each serving of Pure African Mango contains 1,050 mg of Irvingia — one of the highest concentrations currently available.
| |
| By NICOLE HODGES Ι October 28, 2011 |  |
Move Over Weight Watchers, an exotic super fruit called 'African Mango' is quickly becoming America's hottest new way to lose weight.And much to the chagrin of the nation's $40 billion-dollar diet industry, which sells outrageously expensive surgical procedures and drugs that have done little, if anything, to trim America's ever-growing collective waistline.
Indeed, interest in the use of African Mango extract (irvingia gabonensis) as a safe, effective and inexpensive weight loss alternative surged after Dr. Mehmet Oz called it, mentioning no specific brand, a "breakthrough supplement" and a "miracle in your medicine cabinet" on his Emmy Award-winning The Dr. Oz Show, which aired on September 13, 2010.3
Similarly, one of the show's leading medical contributors, Dr. Tanya Edwards, M.D., called African Mango extract, mentioning no specific brand, a "miracle pill" after it helped her lose 7 pounds in less than a monthwithout making any changes to her diet or exercise routine.4 Click here to read her report.
Subjects Lost an Astonishing 3,990% More Weight
According to a recent study published in the scientific journal Lipids in Health and Disease, men and women supplementing with African Mango extract for just 28 days lost an astonishing 3,990% more weight than those taking a placebo (8.9 lbs vs. 0.22 lbs).1
Beyond the weight loss, the volunteerstaking African Mango extract 30 minutes before meals lost a stunning average of 2.4 inches from their waistlines as well as 1.8 inches from their hips — and their bad LDL cholesterol, triglyceride, and glucose levels all plummeted.1
What Is African Mango, and How Does It Work?
Despite the recent frenzy surrounding African Mango and its ability to cause safe weight loss, the fruit has actually been used as a diet aid for centuries in Cameroon, Africa.5The brightly-colored tropical fruit is native to Cameroon's west-coastal rainforests. African Mango, or Bush Mango, differs from other mango fruits in that it produces a peculiar seed, which natives of Cameroon refer to as Dikka nuts.5
For hundreds of years, an extract from the seeds called irvingia gabonensis has been used among Cameroon villagers for its wide-ranging medicinal benefits, which range from reducing and preventing obesity to lowering cholestrol to regulating blood sugar to treating infections.1,5
Americans Swear by African Mango's Slimming Benefits
Tiffany Waterson, a 30-year-old mother of three from St. Petersburg, Florida, says she struggled with her weight for years until discovering African Mango.
"I gained 40 pounds with my last child, and I was already 25 pounds overweight," says Waterson. "I tried several diets and tried to stay away from the foods I loved and nothing seemed to work. I might have lost a few pounds, but it would always come back."
Waterson says she just about gave up hope of ever losing the weight until she read an article about the slimming and health benefits of African Mango.
"I read all about it and said what the heck, I'll give it a try and ordered some," says Waterson. "I have been taking African Mango for six months now, and I am down 33.5 pounds.""All I have done is take the pills like the bottle says and drink plenty of water, and I don't eat past 8 p.m. I still eat what I have always eaten, just smaller portions. And now to tone my body up I'm doing light exercise, and I am loving my new body."
David Jeffery, a 36-year-old journalist from Columbia, Missouri, says he's experienced similar weight-loss success with African Mango.
"After just two weeks of using African Mango, I lost 22 pounds of fat, including a lot of fat off my gut," says Jeffery. "I'm amazed at how fast the weight is falling off me. Already my jean size has dropped from 36 to 34."
Beware of "Watered Down" African Mango Products
With the recent publicity and fanfare surrounding African Mango, it's no surprise that sites are popping up all over the Internet claiming to offer African Mango at bargain-basement prices.
However, desperate slimmers should be aware of African Mango products that use "proprietary blends" and don't list the specific amount of the active ingredient (irvingia) contained in each capsule. Experts warn that it's a well-known ploy that some manufacturers sell watered down versions of products that contain insignificant amounts of the active ingredient.6
Also don't be duped by products which also contain all kinds of other herbal ingredients that have not been tested scientifically, because these other ingredients can be potentinally harmful.6
October 28, 2011 Update: How To Find a Quality African Mango Product
With dozens, if not hundreds, of African Mango products being sold online, selecting one that's worth your money can be a difficult and confusing endeavor.
According to consumer and Better Business ratings, the 100% Pure African Mango product offered from Applied Nutritional Research is considered one of the most effective and trustworthy, with laboratory tests certifying the product's potency and quality.Each serving of Pure African Mango contains 1,050 mg of Irvingia — one of the highest concentrations currently available.
Singapore to Toughen Money Laundering, Terror Financing Laws
(Updates with comment from lawyer in fifth paragraph.)
Oct. 28 (Bloomberg) -- Singapore, where assets under management have risen fivefold to $1.2 trillion since 2001, will consider a “tougher penalty regime” and boost enforcement against money laundering and terrorist financing.
The city-state will also make laundering of proceeds from tax offenses a crime and tighten laws on tax evasion, said Ravi Menon, managing director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, the country’s central bank.
“We will ensure that financial crime does not pay in Singapore and those who jeopardize Singapore’s hard-earned reputation as a financial center of integrity face severe consequence,” Menon said in a speech late yesterday. “Singapore is sending a clear message that it neither wants nor will tolerate these illicit inflows.”
The Asian nation, which has the highest proportion of millionaires in the world, was criticized in a March U.S. State Department report as being vulnerable to money launderers. Singapore’s economy expanded 14.5 percent last year, boosted by two new casino resorts.
“The speech sends a clear signal that the authorities do not want to see tax evaders from other countries using Singapore as a safe haven for their undeclared funds,” said Edmund Leow, a tax lawyer at Baker & McKenzie.Wong & Leow in Singapore. “This will put Singapore in a similar position to Hong Kong, where tax evasion is already a money-laundering offense.”
Supervisory Intensity
Singapore, where bank deposits for foreigners and gains from investments including equities are tax-exempt, has pledged to comply with international standards. It was dropped from the Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development’s so- called gray list in 2009.
The Commercial Affairs Department, the city-state’s white- collar crime unit, will double the number of employees monitoring suspicious financial transactions to detect criminal activity, Menon said.
The central bank has conducted on-site inspections at financial institutions to ensure anti-money laundering and terrorism financing laws are followed, and those that didn’t meet standards were warned and reprimanded in writing, he said.
The “MAS is reviewing whether we need to increase our supervisory intensity and is considering if we should make public sanctions against persistently or egregiously errant institutions,” Menon said.
Deferred Prosecution
The central banker’s comments come about a month after Singapore Attorney General Sundaresh Menon said he will seek tougher penalties for white-collar criminals and cooperate more with global agencies to deter money laundering and tax evasion.
Singapore, which is known for imposing high fines for minor infractions such as littering, uses caning as a punishment for certain offenses. It also enforces the death penalty for serious crimes such as drug smuggling.
The city-state is also considering the use of deferred prosecution, the attorney general said, referring to a commonly used method in the U.S. under which defendants who agree to cooperate with investigators, pay fines or implement corporate reforms, have charges against them dismissed if they fully comply.
Money-laundering convictions in Singapore climbed to an average of 21 a year from 2008 to 2010, compared with four between 2000 and 2007, according to the Financial Action Task Force, a Paris-based watchdog. Hong Kong had 360 money- laundering convictions in 2010, compared with 179 in 2007.
“Tales of large inflows of funds from Europe into Singapore are vastly exaggerated,” said Menon from the central bank, adding that the growth of the city’s private banking industry was spurred by wealth generated from Asia’s economic growth.
--With assistance from Andrea Tan in Singapore. Editors: Linus Chua, Shamim Adam, Lars Klemming.
Ken Rogoff: Europe Is Biggest Risk to U.S. Economy
Oct. 28 (Bloomberg) -- Harvard University economist Kenneth Rogoff talks about the agreement reached by European leaders to try and resolve the debt crisis, the future of the euro region and the outlook for the U.S. economy. Rogoff speaks with Sara Eisen, Erik Schatzker, Scarlet Fu and Stephanie Ruhle on Bloomberg Television's "InsideTrack." (Source: Bloomberg)
October 27, 2011
October 26, 2011
Occupy Oakland video: Riot police fire tear gas, flashbang grenades
Police have clashed with hundreds of demonstrators in the U.S. city of Oakland. It happened when hundreds marched to show their anger at police clearing an "Occupy Wall Street" camp. Officers shot several rounds of tear gas into the crowd, who were trying to reclaim their position within the city centre. Earlier on Tuesday, 85 people were arrested, after they refused to take down their tents as part of the nationwide movement against corporate greed.
October 25, 2011
October 24, 2011
October 23, 2011
Occupy Europe: Thousands march in Germany & Spain
housands staged demonstrations against the power of banks and for greater democracy in German cities on Saturday, while several thousand Spanish teachers and parents marched in the capital Madrid to protest against austerity measures. In Berlin the second edition of the so-called 'Occupy Berlin' protest against the financial system drew several hundred demonstrators to a march which ended at the Reichstag building, Germany's parliament, on Saturday afternoon. Protesters chanted slogans against banks as they walked past Berlin landmarks such as the Brandenburg Gate. After the massive turnout at anti-bank protests last weekend, Berlin police were out in force this Saturday but no serious incidents were reported. A similar demonstration was held in Frankfurt, where several thousand people protested against the power of the banks and for greater democracy. The demonstration was organised by 'Occupy Frankfurt' and the international pro-democracy, anti-globalisation movement 'attac'. The participants marched from the centre of Frankfurt to the European Central Bank building, and a rally was held in front of the Deutsche Bank building. Meanwhile in Spain, several thousand teachers marched in Madrid under banners reading: "Our hopes for the future were never so gloomy" and "For sale", referring to cuts in public education that they say will lead to fewer teachers being employed. Teachers went on strike in Madrid on Thursday, the sixth day of stoppages since classes began last month. The protests have been triggered by local authority orders requiring teachers to teach an extra two hours of class per week, a measure that will lead to fewer teachers being hired this year. Education is run at the regional level in Spain and the order was instigated by local governments controlled by the centre-right Popular Party.
October 15, 2011
October 11, 2011
Germany, France to deal with crisis, stocks soar
Fat Cats in Crossfire: Occupy Wall St. aims for all streets.
October 9, 2011
October 7, 2011
October 6, 2011
David Walker, former U.S. Comptroller General: US Worse Off Financially Than Euro Nations
The US is spending $4 billion a day more than it is taking in, putting the country on an unsustainable fiscal path perpetuated by both Democrats and Republicans, according to David Walker, head of the Comeback America Initiative.
 Solving America's problems will require a combination weighted toward spending reductions but one that also will require spreading the taxation burden around more evenly, said Walker, the former US comptroller general. |
"We're not growing enough and we're not going to grow our way out of this problem," he said in a CNBC interview. "We would have to have double-digit real GDP growth for decades to grow our way out of this hole."
Walker's organization promotes fiscal stability and is warning that the US is trailing many other developed nations in terms of getting its fiscal policies in order. Comeback America is a conservative think tank funded mostly through a grant from the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, named for the founder the Blackstone Group private equity firm.
In fact, according to an index that Comeback America developed, the US is in worse shape from a fiscal standpoint than debt-plagued nations such as Italy or Spain, he said.
With the nation hitting its $14.294 trillion debt ceiling and in need of an extension,Congress is debating the proper mix of tax increases and spending cuts so that the US does not end up like weaker euro zone nations such as Greece, Spain and Portugal that are in danger of debt defaults.
Walker leans more towards the spending-cut side, but also sees inequities in the tax structure that must be corrected to help generate revenue.
"We have to broaden the base—51 percent of Americans don't have any income taxes," he said. "That's not acceptable in a democracy."
The richest Americans are paying just 18 percent income tax rates even while the top marginal rate is supposed to be 35 percent, he said.
Straightening out the imbalances will be a tough choice for politicians and, Walker said, will be an integral part of next year's presidential campaign.
"The 2012 election is going to have to be about what's the proper role for government," he said. "How are we going to solve our financial problems?"
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